Azeroth burns, we play in the ashes: World of Warcraft Cataclysm is here

The latest World of Warcraft expansion pack, Cataclysm, launched on Tuesday, …

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is upon us, and Azeroth is not wanting for turmoil. The entire landscape and structure of the original game launched in 2004 has been changed, the level cap has been raised, and new races have been added. There is a lot to see and do.

As we've noted in previousreports on patches leading up to the expansion, the storyline of the Cataclysm expansion has lead to big changes in the look of old Azeroth. The change most likely to bring on new players is the facelift the level 1-60 questing experience has received, with a view to making it less of a grind. Blizzard wants current players to grab the expansion and continue playing, but attracting new or returning players also seems to have been a goal.

The expansion also raises the level cap to 85 and adds new level 80-85 zones to both Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms, as well as a slew of new and reformatted dungeons and raids. This has consumed the bulk of my playing time thus far, and while the new quests aren't mind-blowingly different from the rest of the game, they're at least as engaging as Northrend's quest chains in Wrath of the Lich King, if not a tiny bit more.

Cataclysm is Azeroth like we've never seen it before. Left, a shot of the underwater zone Vashj'ir, filled with kelp, grottoes, and aggressive sea creatures; right, an aerial shot of Stormwind as seen from a flying mount.

One of the biggest differences is the game's new tendency towards cinematic sequences. The game often takes control of the camera for a bit to make sure you're looking at the right dramatic event taking place and to draw you into the story of a quest rather than forcing you to blindly pursue the goal. This happens somewhat frequently in the starting areas for the newly added worgen and goblin races as well.

As far as getting back to the level cap, I found myself dreading having to return to being a FedEx/contract killer slave to quest givers, not least because the Dungeon Finder added in a Wrath patch has made gearing and instances downright enjoyable. But the new Vashj'ir zone has turned out to be pretty absorbing so far—I mowed through one subzone over a few hours without getting frustrated or fed up, despite dying several sudden deaths due to PvP skirmishes and outright ganking. Extrapolating the time logged versus experience gained so far, it may turn out that Cataclysm's high-level questing areas may match Northrend in quantity of content, despite only raising the level cap half as much.

While these changes are notable, we'll be spending some more time with the game to decide whether the new cinematic tendency works, how different questing really is, and what it's like having our hard-won epic armor replaced by quest-reward greens yet again. Our full review is coming soon, but until then, please share your thoughts on the new content in the comments, and if you're returning to the game... how did you enjoy that installation process?

Casey Johnston
Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics. Twitter@caseyjohnston